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Though Victoria offers all kinds of big city perks like high-tech WiFi and a thriving food scene, this quaint capital has maintained its small-town charm – which makes it an ideal destination for stress-free holiday shopping. With an impressively high walkability score and a collection of eateries perfect to take a rest, you’ll have as much finding gifts this season as giving them. 

Standing 38 feet tall and spanning a full city street, the Gates of Harmonious Interest is an eye-catching red and gold beauty. Featuring three arches, each of the pedestrian pathways is guarded by a stone lion. It was erected in 1981 and marks the entrance to Victoria, B.C.’s Chinatown. 

However, the historic destination wasn’t always so ornately decorated and lovingly maintained. Chinatown was founded in 1859 by Chinese merchants from San Francisco. They’d come north for the Fraser River Gold Rush, building simple wood shacks that served as homes and businesses. Initially, the new settlers were connected to the city center by three narrow footbridges that spanned the Johnson Street Ravine — a natural waterway that was used for waste disposal. 

Wind Cries Mary is truly a hidden gem in Victoria. Opened in 2019, just eight months before the Covid shutdown, the restaurant has become both a favorite for locals and a destination for those traveling to Victoria. Located downtown in Bastion Square, Wind Cries Mary is in the downstairs of the historic Law Chambers building. 

Once you descend down the stairs you’re met with a dark and moody candlelit space. The canopied bar at the center of the room filled with local and international wine and spirits lets you know that this is the right place to come for a good drink. Explore farther into the restaurant and you’ll find an even cozier brick-walled room that, for some, will bring back memories of Camille’s, a Victoria staple that occupied the space for 27 years.